Domenico Tintoretto
St. Mary Magdalene

Circa 1598
Oil on canvas
Musei Capitolini, Rome

St. Mary Magdalene is pictured in her cell with the usual appurtenances of a hermit: the skull, the cross, the open book. Also common in images of hermits in their cells is the light from Heaven. As in many images of the era, her past as a fallen woman is expressed through physical beauty, blond hair, and a paucity of clothing.

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Photographed at the Musei Capitolini by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.